Beautiful love stories in the
scriptures. Love stories not designed to
fill us with sentimentality and emotion, but to instruct us in
the gospel of Christ. Adam, because of his great love
for his wife Eve, rather than that she should be separated
from him. willingly plunged himself and
all his race into sin and under the curse of God's holy law and
into spiritual death because he loved Eve. And the last Adam,
our Lord Jesus Christ, because of his great love for his bride,
whom he espoused to himself from eternity. rather than that we
should be separated from him forever, willingly took our sin
in his own body on the tree and plunged himself under the wrath
of God being made sin for us. Only in Adam's case, his love
proved vanity. In the case of the last Adam,
his love proves effectual, for in redeeming us, he brings us
up to glory. Hosea was commanded of God to
go love a woman, a woman from the red light district, a fallen
woman, a woman who was cursed by the law. shameful in character
and conduct, reproached by all around her. But he loved her. And he took care of her. And
he at last brought her to himself. And the Lord God says, now I've
commanded all of this as a picture of my love for the children of
Israel, my love for the people whom I have chosen. And he said,
I will love them freely. A third picture of Christ's great
love for us is found in the book of Ruth. Let's turn there again. You've already read with me the
first chapter. I want to talk to you again this
morning about this picture of Christ, our kinsman, Redeemer. And I pray God, the Holy Spirit,
will speak through me to your heart and speak to my heart as
I speak to you. This book of Ruth, written for
instruction to us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, like all
the other scriptures, is designed and intended by God to portray
and set forth the gospel of God's grace and glory in the person
and work of His darling Son. Now, throughout this book, One
word is used repeatedly, just used repeatedly. In fact, in
these four chapters, and they're fairly short chapters, you'll
find this word seven times. The word is kinsman. Let's look
at just one of them. Chapter 3, verse 9. And Boaz
said to Ruth, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a kinsman." Now, the kinsman,
according to God's law, if you will turn back there to Leviticus
25, let's look at it. The kinsman is the one who has
the right to redeem. The law of the kinsman redeemer
is given back here in Leviticus 25. Now, as I was preparing this
message, and I preached on this a book of Ruth to you a number
of times, but I saw something, as is always the case, I'd never
seen before. Here in Leviticus 25, the law in verses 1 through
24 is all about the year of jubilee. It's all about the Sabbath of
rest that's ours in Christ. It's all about Christ coming
to set us free at the appointed time of God's love, mercy, and
grace to us, and proclaiming the gospel of His grace effectually
by His Spirit. And then in verse 25, God seems
to change gears. Not at all. Not at all. He's
still talking about the same thing. Look at verse 25. If thy
brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession,
and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then he shall redeem
that which his brother sold. The law of the kinsman-redeemer,
then, is intimately connected with this matter of the year
of Jubilee. That prophetic law was given
to be a picture of Christ and was fulfilled by Christ. Our
father Adam sold us into bondage and sin, but Christ, our kinsman-redeemer,
bought us and brought us into righteousness, life, and liberty
as the sons of God. It is written. For as by one
man's disobedience were many made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous." Now the book of Ruth is the Holy
Spirit's commentary on the law of the kinsman-redeemer. It shows
us this one thing. It shows both our need of a kinsman-redeemer
and the way we may obtain the blessing of redemption and grace
in him. Now there are seven people named
in this book. Their names are very important.
We read first about this fellow named Elimelech. Apparently,
Elimelech was the son of many women who, at least by profession,
believed God. His name means God is King. Now, today we name our sons and
daughters either after a relative or some figure in the news, or
we name them because we think the name sounds good. In the
scriptures, in these days, people named their sons and daughters
for a reason. The names meant something. My
mother and dad named me Don. It doesn't mean much. It means
little brown stranger. Or in another language, it means
mighty ruler. Either one, you can take your
pick. Neither apply to me. But the name was insignificant. Elimelech
was named by his parents. according to their apprehension
of God and His character. His name means God is King. But Elimelech didn't know his
parents' God. This man, Elimelech, in Bethlehem,
Judah, during the days of the judges, when the time of trouble
came to Israel, when God sent famine into the land, he took
his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Malon and Chilion, and
went down to Moab, the cursed land of the heathen, a land where
God was not known and God was not worshipped, because there
he hoped to save his family and save his wealth. His wife's name,
Naomi, means sweet, pleasant. Their son, Melon, his name means
weakness. Chileon means consumption. Naomi's daughter-in-law means
stiff-necked and declining. Her other daughter-in-law, Ruth,
that name means companion. And then when we get to chapter
3, we'll find a fellow by the name of Boaz. His name means
in him is strength. Boaz and Ruth are the principal
characters in the story, of course. Ruth represents us. Boaz represents
our Lord Jesus Christ. in whom we have strength and
power and virtue and grace and righteousness and everything
else our souls need for time and eternity. Elimelech left
in weakness and was consumed in Moab in the providence of
God. There he died and left his wife
a widow with two orphaned sons. Sometime later his two sons married
wives of the Moabite women. those cursed women of that cursed
race, and lived for ten years with them, and then they died. And now Naomi is poor, destitute,
and alone. But in chapter 1 and verse 6,
she heard, way down in Bethlehem, or down in Moab, she heard from
somebody, somehow, that the Lord had visited Bethlehem, Judah,
and had visited them again in grace and filled the land with
bread. And so she had some hope. In
her brokenness, she told her daughters-in-law to remain with
their own people. And they said, oh no, we'll go
with you. And then she said, if you do, it's going to cost
you. I don't have anything. I don't have anything. And I
don't have any hope of giving you anything. And Orpah said,
well, OK, I'll go back to my gods and to my people, but not
Ruth. Look at verse 16 of chapter 1. Ruth said, entreat me not to leave
thee. Oh, don't ask me to leave you,
or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest,
I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people, thy
people shall be my people. I'll abandon Moab, mama, daddy,
brother, and sister, and everybody else. Your people shall be my
people. because your God shall be my God. Where thou diest will
I die, and where there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me,
and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." So Naomi and
Ruth returned to the land of Israel, to the people of God
at Bethlehem, Judah, in the time of barley harvest. Now let's
look at the story. First, in verses 19 through 21
of chapter 1, We have a sad, sad picture. It is a picture
of what happened to us in the garden. So they too went until
they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they
would come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about
them and said, is this Naomi? And she said to them, call me
not Naomi, call me Mara. Don't call me pleasantness. Call
me bitterness. Call me merry. For the Lord has
dealt bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord
brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing
the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted
me?" When this woman comes back to Bethlehem, Judah, word got
around town. Naomi is coming home. Naomi is
coming home. Apparently she was a woman of
great influence and means, being the wife of a limelight while
she was in Bethlehem, Judah. And they had been gone for a
long time, but now she's coming back. But she's not coming back
the way she went out. She went out rich and young and
beautiful, well clothed with everything her heart could desire.
But now she comes back old. and worn, haggard, dirty, wearing
rags, utterly bitter in her soul because she thought the Lord
had dealt harshly with her. Because she thought the Lord
had been against her all this time. The people saw her coming
into town. Everybody gathered around. Like
you would if some great dignitary were coming to town and a buzz
got around. They said, Naomi, you remember
Naomi, that young, beautiful, rich woman? She's coming back.
The limolex is dead. Every man in town said, well,
maybe I can get in on this. Maybe I can get her for a wife.
And then here comes Naomi. Is that Naomi? Who would want
her? Who would have her? She thought
she was somebody. Look at her now. I look at this
congregation and I look in the mirror every morning and I look
at the world around me and I say, is this Adam? Can these poor,
dying, corrupt, sinful creatures called men be the sons of Adam? Men and women who were created
in the image and likeness of God Almighty. Can that be Adam? Can that be Adam? Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Hold your hands here and turn
to Romans chapter three. This is the result of Adam's
fall. This is how we got in the mess we're in. By the sin and
fall of our father Adam, we were conceived in sin and shapen in
iniquity, and we came forth from the womb speaking lies, and it's
been downhill ever since. I know the sociologists and the
educators and the politicians all want to convince you that
we're good, really, at heart. Man just has a few problems on
the outside. If we get those straightened out, it'll be all
right. You know, the problem is man's bad at the heart. It's
really messed up the outside. He's corrupt inside. That's the
reason it corrupts everything outside. Romans 3, verse 10. As it is written, there is none
righteous. No, not one. There is none that
seeketh after God. That includes you and me, your
sons and daughters and mine, your mother and dad and mine,
your grandma and grandpa and mine. There's none righteous,
not one. There's none who seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. Paul's quoting here from Psalm 14. They're all at one
time gone aside. They've all, by the fall of one
man, turned away from God. And they are all at one time
become unprofitable. Unprofitable. That's man. Unprofitable. What's man good for? Nothing.
He's unprofitable. And there is none that doeth
good. No, not one. No such thing. Do you know, this book, this
book, I defy you to find otherwise, this book doesn't have one good
thing to say about you. Outside Christ. Not one good
thing. Not one good thing. Nothing good
about your thoughts. They're all vanity. Nothing good
about your heart. They're all deceitful. Nothing
good about your actions. They're all wicked. Nothing good
about your determination. Your determination is to shed
innocent blood and to forsake God. This book says nothing good
about any human being outside Jesus Christ, our Lord. Man who
was once a prince is now a pauper. He who had everything. God said to Adam, See this world
I've made? It's yours. Take it. Everything. And now man tries to take it
and it doesn't possess anything. He who was once a king, so great
a ruler over the earth that the Lord God said to Adam, I'm going
to bring before you all the beasts of the field and whatever you
call them, that's what they'll be called. Now scientists came
along later and thought they'd be get one up on God, and they
decided to give things names. But you know what they named
them? They named them what Adam named them in the garden. What's
that fellow? That's a big cat. We'll call
him a lion. The little one, we'll call that a cat. That's a bear. We'll call that a bear. The little
one, we'll call it a koala bear. And Adam named every creature.
Every creature. He was king. You and I, in our
father Adam, We're made to have dominion over God's creation. And now, man tries to have dominion. We like to control things, don't
we? Women say it's a guy thing, it's a control freak. Well, you
ladies too. Everybody likes to control. And
we want it so bad because we can't. We have no ability to
control anything. Man created in pleasantness,
holiness, and happiness, now is full of sin and bitterness. Man created full in the image
of God is now empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. It's what fills the nuthouses
with It's what keeps psychiatrists and psychologists and religious
counselors busy every day of the week. Man inside is empty
because there's nothing in him except corruption and sin. He
who was blessed by God now walks upon the earth children of wrath,
just like everybody else, cursed of God. In chapter 2, We're given
another picture. Here's a picture of our Savior's
great love. Let's read a few verses here
together. Chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi
had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the
family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite
said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears
of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said
to her, Go, my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers, and her hap was to lie on the
part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the kindred
of Elimelech. And Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered
him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was over the reapers, Who's this young thing? Who's that
beautiful girl? Who's that young damsel? Verse
9. Boaz invited Ruth to join him
for dinner, and he says to her, Let thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap, and go bow after them. Have I not charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young
men have drawn. Verse 16, he commands his servants,
these young men, who drew water, set it on the well for her. He
says, and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose. I love that. Not little sprinklings. Handfuls of purpose. Take them and set them down right
here. Follow her path and set some
more right there. Let fall some handfuls of purpose
for her. Some other folks might get some
of it, but he put them out there for her. and leave them, that
she may glean them, and rebuke her not." I said before, Naomi
and Ruth came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest,
and they were poor. Their inheritance was gone, and
there was no one to support them, to take care of them. But God
required a law in Israel, and that's the law we see here in
chapter 2. The poor people were allowed
to follow the reapers through the fields, whenever a person
Went out and gathered his barley, or gathered sheaves of grain,
and he forgot one. The law said, don't go back and
get it. Leave that for the poor, for the stranger, for the widow,
for the fatherless. When they gathered their grapes,
God said, don't take them all. Leave some for the poor, for
the stranger, for the widow, for the fatherless. When they
went out and gathered fruit out of the trees, the Lord said,
don't take all of it. Leave some there for the poor,
the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger. You see, God provided
for the poor and the destitute in a very good welfare system.
It wasn't like ours. It wasn't like ours. Our welfare
system makes fellows want to live as dependents upon others. This was a welfare system whereby
all who were needy and hungry were readily fed, but they were
fed with a little honor because they had to go out and get their
own food. Fed by the generosity of the
nation. but fed with some honor that maintained a little dignity.
Now, look in verse 1 again, chapter 2. Ruth knew. She knew there
was a kinsman in Bethlehem, Judah. How did she know that? She was
Naomi's daughter-in-law. And unlike Elimelech, Naomi believed
God. Unlike Elimelech, Naomi retained
in her heart hope with regard to God's promise and God's grace.
And while they were still in Moab, Naomi would tell her daughters-in-law
about the God of Israel and the wondrous law by which He provided
for His people, the wondrous law by which He would care for
His own. And she would tell them that there's still some hope.
I don't have anything. I'm an old woman, and I'm not
going to get any husband. I'm not going to get any son
by me, but there's a possibility. Possibility, if he wants to,
one of our kinsmen will redeem us. And as they go their way,
Ruth and Naomi, I can almost hear Naomi say, tell me about
this law again. Are there any kinsmen left for
us? And Naomi gives her instruction according to that which God had
given her. Verse one, chapter two, Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband. a mighty man of wealth, of the
family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Ruth, honey,
there is one mighty, strong, wealthy man back yonder in Bethlehem,
Judah. And if he wants to, if he wants
to, let me tell you what he can do. He can buy everybody's field
in the land if he wants to. He can take possession of everything.
He's rich and powerful and respected. When He comes out, He greets
His servants graciously, and He smiles at them and says, The
Lord be with you. And His servants return and say,
The Lord bless you. God honor you. He's a mighty
kinsman. He is near akin to us. He's a mighty man, and He's very
wealthy. This kinsman Boaz, what a picture
of Christ he is. Now let me show you four things.
Four things. If you haven't written them down
before, you might want to write them down now. These four things
were required if a man was to be a kinsman and a redeemer.
First, he had to be related by blood to those he redeemed. He had to be one of his kinsmen. One with him in the flesh. For as much did, as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ also himself likewise
took part of the same. The Son of God came down here
in human flesh. He took on Him our nature. He
became therein bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Became
a man, a real man. How come that through death,
That in taking on our flesh, He might be able to die. God
can't die, but the God-man did. And He became God in human flesh,
that through death He might destroy him that had power of death,
that is, the devil, and destroying him that had power of death,
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage. Number two, if the kinsmen were
going to be a Redeemer, He must pay the price required for redemption. Measuring everything to redeem
that which was lost. You can read it again in Leviticus
25. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
took on Himself our nature, came down here as the servant of God,
the triune God. And he offers himself without
spot unto God and redeemed us with his own precious blood. You're not redeemed with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb,
a lamb slain, who barely was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but now is revealed to you. And thirdly, he had to
be willing to redeem the fallen. Look in chapter 3 of Ruth, verse
11. Naomi speaks to Ruth. We'll get
to this again in a minute. She says, Now, my daughter, fear
not. Or Boaz, rather, speaking to
Ruth. I will do to thee all that thou requirest. For all the city
of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman." Oh, my soul, the Son of God declares
He will do for my soul everything I require, everything my soul
needs, everything. Do I need atonement? I'll do
it. I need righteousness? I'll do it. But I need grace? I'll do it. I need more grace
to sustain me? I'll do it. I need grace to sanctify
me? I'll do it. I need grace to keep
me? I'll do it. I need grace to present
me faultless before the throne of glory? He says, I'll do all
that your soul requires. Oh, He's willing to redeem. He paid the price of redemption.
But there's one more requirement. The kinsman can't have any debt
of his own. He must be free of debt. And
our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made of woman, made under the
law, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law, was
himself holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He
who assumed our debt before God had no debt to pay. He is the
Holy Son of God. And with His blood, He has made
an infinitely efficacious atonement for our souls. And we now are
free in Him. Look at verse 2. Ruth went out
into the fields to glean with the poor, hoping that she might
find grace in the eyes of this kinsman. Ruth 2, verse 2. Ruth
the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and
glean ears of corn after him, in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter, if it were possible for this woman Ruth of Moabitess."
Now, you just stop and think about the obstacle she had before
her. I'm a Moabitess. I'm a daughter
of Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughter. I'm a daughter
of a cursed people with whom there is no promise of goodness
or grace or mercy from God Almighty. No Moabitess has ever been invited
to join Israel. You can't get in by Jordan. No
Moabitess has ever had any encouragement to come into Bethlehem, Judah.
Moabitess less welcome in Bethlehem, Judah than would be a Palestinian
in Israel today. A Moabitess. But she was determined
not to die hungry if she could help it. She was determined if
it were possible for her to get an inheritance with the children
of God's covenant promise. If it were possible for her to
get an inheritance in Israel, she was not going to perish in
poverty. But what does all that mean?
Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while
He is near. Why will you die when life is
sitting beside you? Why will you hunger when there's
bread on the table? Why will you go on in your thirst
when there's water for the thirsty? Why? So Ruth, determined to have
an inheritance if it were possible, went to the place where she was
most likely to meet her kinsman. She went with the hope that he
might be gracious to her. She said, let me go glean in
his field. Glean corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace."
Well, Boaz never promised her any grace. She hadn't even met
him yet. She's bold by this. Yeah, but she said, Naomi's told
me about this mighty man. And she's told me what a gracious
man he is. And she says, Mama Naomi, we're
hungry. Let me go out and glean in the
field of him in whose sight I What'd you say? Shall find grace. Seek Him, and you'll find Him. He said, you'll find me when
you seek for me with all your heart. And so she goes to the
harvest fields. Just like you come here to the
Church of God, where the Lord Jesus meets with His people.
Now look at verse 5. Then Boaz said to his servant
that was sent over the reapers, Who's damsel is this? He comes into the house of God
and he looks over all the people here and he says, now who's that
lady there? Who's damsel is this? There were
many poor, poor widows in the fields. But Boaz set his eyes
on Ruth. He took notice of Ruth. He had
compassion on Ruth, and Ruth hadn't even seen Him yet. She
hadn't even heard from Him yet. And so it was with the Lord Jesus
Christ, O my soul, He took notice of me. He loved me. He chose me to be His own before
the world was. He loved us freely from eternity. All right, now, let me talk to
you about another picture here. It's one of the most wondrous
things in this book. Mysterious and profound. Naomi,
we read in chapter one, she said, the Lord's been against me. The
Lord's been against me. You remember, Jacob said, all
these things are against me. Everything's against me. Oh,
God, teach me never to think such, much less say it. It's
impossible for anything or anyone to be against me. I said it the way I meant to.
It's impossible for anything or anyone to be against me. Try as they may, they're all
for me. All for me. All for me. Did you hear that? Naomi and
Ruth set before us here a wondrous picture of God's special providence. And special it is. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain.
Who could ever imagine God bringing good out of Lot's incest with
his daughter. Who could ever imagine God doing
good by a Limelech taking his family, fleeing to Moab, bringing
them into poverty, and leaving them destitute? Oh, but he did. And he does bring
good out of evil all the time. Chapter 2, verse 1 again. Naomi
had a kinsman, a kinsman of her husband's, a man of wealth of
the family of a limeleck whose name was Boaz. Verse 9. Let thine eyes be on the field,
and let the field that they do reap, Boaz says to Ruth, and
go thou after them. Have I not charged the young
men, my servants, that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art a thirst, go into the vessels and drink of that which my servants
have drawn." Verse 16, he says to his servants, let fall some
handfuls of purpose for her. And my friends, as the fields
of Bethlehem belong to Boaz, so this world belongs to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our great Redeemer. He created
it. That means it's His. The Father
has put all things into His hands by decree. That means it's His. And He lived and died and revived,
but He might be Lord of the dead and of the living. And because
of His obedience unto death, The Father has given him power
over all flesh, dominion to rule over every living thing for this
purpose, that he might give eternal life to as many as the Father
has given him. Now as Ruth's half was to lie
on the part of the field belonging to Boaz, so God graciously brings
his elect to the place where he will be gracious to them.
Ruth goes out to glean. She's going out to the barley
fields. That's where the fellas are all gleaning. And Boaz is
such a wealthy man, doesn't much matter which field she goes into,
she's going to find him. He's going to find her. And she
happens. Isn't that a good word? Her hap. Her hap. Looked that way to her,
didn't it? I despise the word luck. I despise
it. I despise it. If I played Monopoly
and rolled the dice, I wouldn't call it luck if it landed on
the right number every time. I despise it. Nothing happens
by luck or chance or fate. Oh, but about everything looks
that way. Oh, I've had lots of hap circumstances,
haven't you? Her hap was to be in the field
of Boaz because God so arranged it. And Boaz came and spotted
her. And I don't know, I'm just guessing. I suspect maybe he even winked
at her. He wanted her attention. At dinner
time, sometime for everybody to have lunch, he flirted with
her a little bit. Read the second chapter. He said,
you come have lunch in my tent. And they're all sitting together,
and he reached and got him a little biscuit, dipped it in some gravy,
and said, here, have some of my bread. And he got her attention. And he commanded the young man
to leave handfuls of purpose for her. And he commanded the
young man not to touch her. And he commanded the young man
to draw water for her. And he commanded the young man
not to rebuke her. And he commanded the young man not to reproach
her. And he said, Ruth, now, that's what I've done for you.
He commanded his young men just as God Almighty has commanded
the angels of God and the demons of hell and Satan and all creation. Saying, they're mine. Now you draw water for them,
and you leave handfuls of grain for them, right in their way,
and you don't touch them, and you don't rebuke them, and you
don't reproach them. They're mine. They're mine. Touch
not my anointed, God says. And you know what? Nobody ever
does. Nobody ever does. As Boaz commanded
his young men to let fall handfuls of purposeful ruth, so our Savior
graciously provides for His own all the days of their life, even
in their rebellion and ungodliness. He sends forth His angels, ministering
spirits sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. I've got to do it. Turn over
to Hosea 2. I've got to show you this one more time. Hosea
chapter 2. You know the story of Hosea and Gomer. Gomer left
Hosea. She's now making her living on
her back in the red light district she came from, in the arms of
her lovers. And she'd get up every morning
and open the door. A fellow just left and looked
down, there's a sack of groceries. And she said, look what my lovers
gave me. Look what my lovers gave me. Hosea found out where
she was, and he could have forced her to come home, but he didn't
want her until she wanted him. He wouldn't have her until she
was willing to come to him. But all the while she was in
the arms of another, Hosea loved her and took care of her, provided
everything she needed. Look at it, chapter 2, verse
8. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and
oil. I multiplied her silver and gold,
which they prepared for Baal." Back in Ruth 2, according to
the law of God given to Israel, if a man sold his inheritance
and had a near kinsman who was willing and able to do so, that
kinsman could buy back his brother's inheritance. Now, let's move
on to chapter 3. Naomi tells Ruth what she's got
to do. I've got to hurry here, but it's worth reading the rest
of it carefully. She said, Ruth, Boaz is going
to be down on the threshing floor tonight, harvesting sin, and
they're going to have a party. You go to the threshing floor
where Boaz is, your near kinsman, and humble yourself. lay down at that man's feet, slip up under his covers, and
spend the night there. And he'll tell you what you must
do. And you know what Ruth did? She went to the threshing floor.
She found the spot where Boaz had made his pallet for the night.
And when Boaz came in and laid down and went to sleep, seeking
his rest. She laid down at his feet, pulled
the covers over her, and Boaz woke up and said, Who are you? And she said, I'm Ruth, thine
handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near And Boaz said, I'll do
it. I'll do all that you require.
Now here's a picture of true repentance. Ruth marked the place
where Boaz would be, and she went there. She came in softly
and laid herself down at his feet like the leper. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Like Mary, who sat at his feet and heard his word.
Like the woman who came and knelt at his feet broke an alabaster
box of ointment, and kissed his feet, and washed them with his
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,
many, many are later in terror, but bow you will." This woman
risked everything. Can you imagine what Naomi told
her to do? Can you imagine what Naomi told
her to do? She didn't have but one thing in this world. Just
one thing. Just one thing. The only thing
she had was a respectable name. Everybody knew she had been a
respectable woman. And Naomi says, honey, you've
got to give up your respectable name. You've got to give it up
or you're going to die. You've got to give it up or there's
no hope. And so she goes in at the risk
of being scandalized and lays down at the feet of this man
just like any common harlot might do. He says, I'm yours. You can do
with me whatever you want to. I'm yours. You're my near kinsman. Now this is the reason I'm here.
I want you to spread your skirt over me and claim me for your
wife. And Boaz said, I'll do that. Now I bid you come to our mighty
Boaz. Bow down at his feet. Cast everything down before him. And he will spread over you the
skirt of his righteousness and claim you as his own. But Boaz
said first. First, there's another kinsman. You'll read about him in chapter
four. He's nearer than me. And he's got to be dealt with
first. The law of God is a near kinsman. The law holds us as captors.
And the Lord Jesus, He comes first to deal with the law. Boaz
went out to the gates of the city and he said, called ten
men together. Out of two or three witnesses,
he said, I'm going to get plenty. And this fellow came by, it was on
the shopping day in town, I reckon, and he came by and he said, hey
buddy! Yeah, Brother Boaz, what do you
need? Come over here. He said, have you heard that
Elimelech lost everything? Oh yeah, yeah. He said, well,
You're the nearest kinsman to him, and if you want his field,
you can buy it. But if you don't want it, I'll
buy it." He said, oh, I'll buy that. And Boaz said, there's a catch.
If you buy his field, you got to buy that mower by this too.
And this kinsman said, well, you don't second thought I can't
do that. That would mar my own inheritance. And Boaz said, all
right, take off your shoe and swear it publicly. And he did. And Boaz says, now you are witnesses
this day. I have bought the field of Elimelech. Everything he lost. And I bought Ruth to be to me
a wife. I'll take care of her. The Lord
Jesus ascended up into heaven with his own blood. and calls
to witness the principalities and powers taken captive by Him,
the angels of God worshipping Him, the triune God rejoicing
in Him, and all His people gathered with Him. He says, I bought everything
you lost in Adam. And I bought you. I bought you
with the silver of my sweat and the gold of my blood and your
mind. I bought you And in doing so,
I magnified the law and made it honorable. And like Boaz, we say concerning the Lord Jesus,
as Naomi did of him, he will not rest until he has finished the thing. He won't rest. until He has brought
you home to glory. Faithful is He that calleth you
who also will do it. He's able to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory.
And that's enough. Oh, that's enough. Oh, love surpassing
knowledge, grace so full and free, I know that Jesus loves
me, and that's enough for me. Oh, wonderful salvation from
sin Christ set me free. I feel the sweet assurance, and
that's enough for me. Oh, blood of Christ so precious
poured out at Calvary, I feel its cleansing power, and that's
enough for me. Amen.